80 AFRICA SPEAKS 



made the lion an unwilling adjunct of their sports 

 and the executioner of innocents, good people have 

 been led to beUeve that hons were all that was cruel 

 and bloodthirsty. Of course, it was admitted that he 

 made a fine appearance and some nations even adopted 

 him as the symbol of greatness, of strength, and of 

 character. The general opinion still prevails that lions 

 are cruel, bloodthirsty, killers for the love of kilHng, 

 man-eaters whenever possible, and yet, noble, majestic 

 and strong. 



I have had unusual opportunities to study wild, full- 

 grown African lions in their native haunts, but no 

 matter what I write about them, someone is sure to 

 disagree with my conclusions. The fact remains, how- 

 ever, that I spent many weeks mth a troop of Hons, 

 right out in the open, under the blue sky of Tangan- 

 yika, and watched them do all the tilings that go to 

 make up a hon's life. 



Most men go out to kill a Hon on sight, and if he 

 resents this treatment and fights back, they caU him 

 evil names, and thus add a score to his already bad 

 reputation. These men never give a thought to the 

 fact that the Hon was only trying to mind his own 

 business, whereas they came looldng for trouble. 

 Then, of course, there are a few Hons that have gone 

 wrong, and as in the case of humans who do the same 

 thing, they stir up more interest and attract more 

 attention than a whole generation of Hons who have 

 been home-loving and peaceful. 



On my first African journey, which took my party 

 into the Kalahari Desert and into the mvsterious Kaoko 

 Veldt of Southwest Africa, I had few chances to study 

 this animal, for he was scarce in these parts and very 



